CES 2024: LG, Samsung battle it out in war of transparent TVs
It’s the new TV that has got everyone talking at the world’s biggest tech fair - but while some can’t get enough of it others are just asking: “why?”
TV
Don't miss out on the headlines from TV. Followed categories will be added to My News.
They’re the hottest new products at the world’s largest electronics fair but while some say it’s “mind blowing” others are simply asking “why?”
Transparent TVs are all the rage at the huge CES 2024 tech show, which is now on in Las Vegas, with a battle royal between Korean powerhouses LG and Samsung with both showing off new examples.
These aren’t the first transparent TVs. China’s Xiaomi has sold a $10,000 model in some countries for a few years – but these are certainly the most advanced and the most likely to end up in Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi. But they will burn a hole in your pocket with $20k a set a conservative estimate.
The LG transparent TV display at #CES2024 is definitely one of the highlights pic.twitter.com/Kv0Y73Q6KJ
— Dave Snelling (@SnellingD) January 9, 2024
Quietly, appliance companies admit the last seismic shift in TV technology – 3D televisions – was a damp squib. After a blip of excitement few people wanted to sit on the couch wearing 3D specs.
Indeed there’s scepticism of the transparent TVs with social media awash with people wondering what’s the point of seeing your wallpaper through the television. One technology website said watching a show on a see through screen was little more than a “gimmick” the novelty of which “might wear off over time”.
And there are numerous catches which means you might not be settling down in front a transparent TV any time soon.
‘Big black boxes’
Yet, tech bosses are confident these TVs are the must-have appliance of the future.
“Talk to any interior designer and they will tell you that they hate TVs,” LG Australia’s home entertainment marketing chief Tony Brown told news.com.au at CES in Las Vegas.
“They are just these big black boxes on the wall and they’re getting bigger.
“With the Signature OLED T transparent television when you turn it off – or even when you put a piece of artwork on it – it can blend in with your home interior.”
Rival Samsung is showing off the MicroLED transparent TV. It’s striking in its simplicity being frameless and only a centimetre thick. It seems little more than a pane of glass.
Tech website EndGadget said the screen was sharp and the colours vibrant but it had a slightly disorientating effect.
“The content almost looks like a hologram as it floats in mid-air.”
LG’s OLED T is a bigger affair. At 77 inches and with four distinct sides in a metal frame it has fish tank vibes – albeit a very sleek, very cool fish tank.
Indeed, LG has leaned into this and one of the options is to have images of fish swim across the screen’s see through displays making it look identical to an aquarium.
Where LG reckons it has an edge over Samsung is in that its TV can switch to a non-transparent mode. Flick a switch and a screen slides up the back of the television.
“When you’re watching a movie you don’t want to see through the movie to the wall behind,” said LG’s Mr Brown.
“But when you’ve finished and you’re entertaining you don’t want to see that big black screen; so you’ve got that freedom”.
‘Blew my mind’
A conundrum of see through screens though is what about the cords – won’t the transparent displays just give a clearer view of the mess of cables from the back of the box?
In LG’s case, the OLED T comes with its Zero Connect box, which debuted in 2023. Power cord aside, all the cables that would normally plug unto the TV go into this box instead, which can be placed on the other side of the room and then connects wirelessly with the display.
Electronic writer with CNN Henry T. Casey was effusive with praise.
“LG’s transparent OLED TV just blew my mind,” he said.
“The war for the living room continues to be fought with great picture quality, and LG’s set aims to change the conversation with its tricks and surprises.
‘Why would anyone want it?’
But some remain unconvinced by the flashy TVs. Tech industry veteran and industry investor Jeremiah Owyang took to Twitter, now known as X, to pour shade on the screens.
“Please explain why anyone would want a transparent TV? For retail and office I get it, but for home? What is its use case?”
Please explain why anyone would want a transparent TV?
— Jeremiah Owyang (@jowyang) January 9, 2024
For retail and office I get it, but for home? What is use case? Smart mirror? Shower door news? #ces
Why would I want a TV that is permanently interrupted by it being transparent? https://t.co/1O3EMUfk9A
— Trapper Sean, M.D (@TrapperSeanMD) January 8, 2024
But Samsung Australia’s vice president of consumer electronics Jeremy Senior told news.com.au that retail could be exactly the arena where transparent TVs initially proves itself.
“If you have a showroom where you want to display a message in a digital format but you still want people to be able to see into the space that’s where these type of solutions can be really beneficial”.
There are downsides to the TVs. LG’s OLED T doesn’t have the micro array lens technology and this means its brightness isn’t up there with its top of the range G series OLED models. Although it’s questionable how many people would notice this.
But perhaps the bigger question is when transparent TVs will arrive in Australia – or indeed anywhere. And the answer is … it could be a while.
LG isn’t giving dates but it sounds bullish. It showed off dozens of the OLED Ts in Las Vegas and has said it hopes to have a model on the market this year. But that could just be a single market at this point like South Korea,
It’s also still tinkering with the final design of the television.
Samsung is even vaguer on the timing of its transparent TVs almost certainly ruling them out for the Australian market this year.
Because there’s still a way to go before they end up in stores, pricing is a mystery.
LG’s most expensive TV at JB HiFi, the G3 4K ultra high def 83 inch model, comes in at $11,000. Transparent TVs will add several thousands dollars to that price tag. Around $20,00 is not out of the question.
Don’t expect this new jump in TV tech to come cheap.
The reporter travelled to CES with the assistance of LG.
Originally published as CES 2024: LG, Samsung battle it out in war of transparent TVs
Industry risks collapse as cost crisis bites
With the rising cost of living stretching budgets further than ever, cost-conscious Aussies are cutting back. It’s left one key industry in a battle to survive.
‘Disaster’: Screen fears grow on Furiosa flop
Mad Max: Furiosa is the latest flop to hit Aussie cinemas in 2024. And now movie operators are ringing the alarm bells.